Child resistant product dispenser

ABSTRACT

A child resistant product dispenser includes a blister card having compartments for holding a product a housing, and a blister cover for use in covering the blister card compartments. The blister cover may include a dispensing area for each compartment of the blister card. To remove a product from the product dispenser the user presses a dispensing area against either a compartment thereby forcing the product through a frangible area on the blister card and through a frangible area in the housing or against a peelable area on the blister card and a frangible area in the housing. This creates an opening through which the product is removed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/866,268, filed Jun. 11, 2004.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to apparatuses and methods for holding anddispensing products and more particularly to apparatuses and methods forholding and dispensing products positioned in a blister card with achild resistant product dispenser.

2. Description of the Related Art

It is well known to provide certain products in what is called a blistercard. Blister cards generally have a first member defining a pluralityof compartments (also known as blisters) that hold products, such asmedicine pills, and a second member that seals the products within thecompartments or blisters. There are two general types of second members.The first type of second member has a number of frangible areas with onefrangible area positioned adjacent to each compartment. To remove theproduct from the compartment the user simply presses down on thecompartment thereby forcing the product through the frangible area. Suchblister cards work well for use with products that can withstand thepressure exerted on them by the user for removal.

For products that cannot withstand such pressure, such as relativelysoft pills, the blister card may use the second type of second memberwhich includes a peelable area positioned adjacent to each compartment.To remove the product, the user simply peels the peelable area away fromthe blister card to create an opening to the compartment. The product isthen easily removed from the compartment by allowing the product to dropor fall out of the compartment under the force of gravity and into theuser's hand, for example. Blister cards generally work well for theirintended purpose. However, known blister cards have the disadvantage ofbeing relatively easy for children to open. Typical blister cards alsohave a disadvantage related to the fact that the compartments orblisters extend from the second member of the card. The extendedcompartments are relatively easy for small children to bite. Such bitinghas the unfortunate possibility of opening the compartment and releasingthe contents of the compartment into the child's mouth. Thus, what isneeded is a product dispenser that is easy for an adult to open yetdifficult for children to open whether with their hands or with theirmouths.

Many efforts have been made to produce a child resistant productdispenser. However, none of the devices known in the art provide thebenefits and advantages provided by the inventors of this patent. Theseadvantages are described below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of this invention, a method of assembling aproduct dispenser is provided. This method includes the steps ofproviding a housing, positioning a blister card relative to the housing,and covering the blister card with a blister cover having a plurality ofdispensing areas. One dispensing area is provided for each compartmentso that each dispensing area is in alignment with a correspondingcompartment. Finally, the blister cover is attached to or retained inthe housing.

According to another aspect of this invention, in the preferredembodiment the blister cover has a flange portion which is attached,preferably by heat seal or adhesive, both on top and on bottom to thehousing of the product dispenser.

According to another preferred embodiment of this invention, the productdispenser housing includes a bottom having a plurality of frangibleareas each of which is lined up with or juxtaposed to a correspondingfrangible area on the second member of the blister card.

According to another aspect of this invention, the blister cover has atop surface adjacent to the dispensing areas for use in greatly reducingaccess to the blister card compartments and thus preventing childrenfrom biting them.

According to one embodiment of this invention, to dispense a productfrom the inventive product dispenser the user presses a dispensing areaon the blister cover against a compartment in the blister card. Thisforces the product through a frangible area on the second member of theblister card and then through a frangible area in the housing.

According to another embodiment of this invention, to dispense a productfrom the inventive product dispenser the user presses a dispensing areaagainst a peelable area on the blister card and a frangible area in thehousing. This pressing force removes an edge of the peelable area and anedge of the frangible area away from the corresponding compartment. Boththe peelable area and frangible area are then peeled back to create anopening to the compartment through which the product can easily beremoved.

One advantage of this invention is that the product dispenser is childresistant yet easy for adults, including the elder and disabled, toopen.

Another advantage of this invention is that children cannot bite throughthe compartments (blisters) to gain unwanted access to the products.

Still another advantage of this invention is that in the preferredembodiment a two-step attaching process, preferably either a heatsealing process or an adhesive process, is used to attach the blistercover to the product dispenser housing.

Still yet another advantage of this invention is that the blister coverprovides at least one communication surface which can be used for anypurpose which may include compliance aids such as dosage text, daylabels, Braille and the like.

Still other benefits and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art to which it pertains upon a readingand understanding of the following detailed specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may take physical form in certain parts and arrangement ofparts, a preferred embodiment of which will be described in detail inthis specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings whichform a part hereof and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the product dispenser of this inventionshown with the side members folded open so that access to the productscan be achieved.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the blister cover showing a top surfaceadjacent to the dispensing areas for use in preventing children frombiting individual compartments in the blister card.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the blister cover shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the blister cover shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4 and showing thecavity within the blister cover that receives the blister card.

FIG. 6 is a detail of section 6-6 shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a top view of the housing shown prior to the placement of theblister card.

FIG. 8 is a top view of the housing similar to FIG. 7, but showing howthe side members are folded into place.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to that shown in FIG. 8, but with the blistercard positioned onto the bottom member of the housing.

FIG. 10 is a view similar to that shown in FIG. 9, but with the middlemember shown folded over the blister card.

FIG. 11 is a view similar to that shown in FIG. 10, but with the blistercover shown placed over the middle member and over the blister card.

FIG. 12 is a view similar to that shown in FIG. 9, but with the middlemember shown as a piece separate from the rest of the housing.

FIG. 13 is a view similar to that shown in FIG. 10, but with the middlemember shown as a piece separate from the rest of the housing.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of another product dispenser embodiment ofthis invention shown with the side member folded open so that access tothe products can be achieved.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the blister cover of FIG. 14 showing atop surface adjacent to the dispensing areas for use in preventingchildren from biting individual compartments in the blister card.

FIG. 16 is a bottom view of the housing showing the frangible areas.

FIG. 17 is a close up perspective view showing how the compartment isaccesses in order to remove a product.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of another product dispenser embodiment ofthis invention showing an optional product chamber.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings wherein the showings are for purposes ofillustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention only and not forpurposes of limiting the same, FIG. 1 shows the inventive productdispenser 10 shown with the side members folded open so that the blistercover 100 can be seen. Below the blister cover 100 is a conventionalblister card 70 having frangible areas 80 as will be discussed furtherbelow.

With reference to FIGS. 3-6 and 9, the blister card 70 has a firstmember 72 defining a plurality of compartments or blisters 74. Each ofthe compartments 74 is used to hold corresponding product 76. It shouldbe noted that the product 76 can be any chosen with sound judgment. Inone anticipated use, the product 76 would be some type of medicationgenerally in pill form. It should be noted that while throughout thisapplication one product is shown as fitting within one compartment 74,the one product 76 could in fact include a number of separate pieces.Thus, for example, one compartment 74 may have two or more individualpieces such as multiple pills. The first member 72 is typically formedof a clear plastic like material such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC).However, the specific material used can be any chosen with soundengineering judgment for this invention.

With continuing reference to FIGS. 3-6 and 9, a second member 78 is usedto seal the products within the compartments 74. This second member 78has a plurality of frangible areas 80 which can be broken or rupturedupon application of sufficient pressure. It should be noted that onefrangible area 80 is positioned juxtaposed to each compartment 74. Inthis way, to remove a product 76 from a compartment 74, it is onlynecessary to press on or apply a force to each compartment 74 therebyforcing the product 76 through the frangible area 80. The second member78 and frangible areas 80 may be formed of any material chosen withsound engineering judgment, such as, aluminum foil. The second member 78is attached to the first member 72 in any manner chosen with soundengineering judgment.

With reference again to FIG. 1, the product dispenser 10 of thisinvention includes housing 20, a blister cover 100 for use in coveringthe compartments 74 of the blister card 70, and connecting means 150 foruse in operatively connecting the blister card 70 and the blister cover100 to the housing 20. The blister card 70 and blister cover 100 arepositioned relative to each other and relative to the housing 20 as willbe discussed further below. Although a typical blister card 70 has beendescribed, it should be understood that this invention can work withmany other blister cards 70.

With reference now to FIGS. 1 and 7-10, the housing 20 will be describedin more detail. FIG. 7 shows the housing 20 in an early form ofassembly. It should be noted that the housing 20 can be formed of anymaterial chosen with sound engineering judgment. In the preferredembodiment, however, the housing 20 is formed of a card stock. Thehousing 20 has a top member 22, a bottom member 21, a middle member 28and a pair of side members 32 and 34. As can be seen by comparing FIG. 7to FIG. 8, the side members 32, 34 are preferably made by foldingmembers 33 and 35 onto members 37 and 39 respectively. This creates adouble layer thickness for the side members 32 and 34. It should beunderstood, however, that a single layer would work well for thisinvention. The top member 22 has an aperture 26 for use in receiving theblister cover 100 as will be described further below. The bottom member21 may also have a plurality of frangible areas 24. These frangibleareas 24 are used in the process of dispensing the product 76 as will bediscussed further below.

With reference now to FIGS. 7-13, the housing 20 also preferablyincludes a middle member 28 that provides additional stability to theproduct dispenser 10. The middle member 28 has a plurality of holes 30which are used to receive the compartments 74 in the blister card 70.Two embodiments for the middle member 28 are preferred. In the firstembodiment, shown in FIGS. 7-11, the middle member is referenced 28A andis connected to the bottom member 21. Most preferably for thisembodiment the middle member 28A can pivot or fold at its connections tothe bottom member 21 so that middle member 28A can lay on top of theblister card 70 which is placed onto the bottom member 21. The result ofthis folding motion can be visualized by comparing FIG. 9 to FIG. 10. Inthe second embodiment, the middle member is referenced 28B and is aseparate piece as shown in FIG. 12. Again, the middle member 28B isplaced on top of the blister card 70 as shown in FIG. 13. This placementof the middle member 28B is preferably done precisely with the use ofknown manufacturing equipment.

With reference now to FIGS. 1-6 and 11, the blister cover 100 will bedescribed in more detail. The blister cover 100 can be formed of anymaterial chosen with sound engineering judgment. However, in thepreferred embodiment the blister cover 100 is formed of a see-through(transparent) PVC material. The transparent blister cover 100 makes iteasy to visually determine which compartments 74 have products 76 andwhich do not. The blister cover 100 preferably has a mid-portion 104 anda flange portion 106 that extends from at least a segment of themid-portion 104. In the preferred embodiment, the flange portion 106completely surrounds the mid-portion 104, as shown. The flange portion106 is used to attach the blister cover 100 to the housing 20, or isused to help the blister cover 100 be retained by the housing 20, or isused to help the blister cover 100 be retained by the housing 20, andrelative to the blister card 70 as will be described further below. Themid-portion 104 includes a plurality of dispensing areas 102. Eachdispensing area 102 is positioned adjacent to a compartment 74 on theblister card 70. Thus, it should be noted that in the preferredembodiment there are two layers of material between the user's finger orother device used to remove the product 76 and the product itself,namely, the first member 72 of the blister card and the blister cover100.

With continuing reference to FIGS. 1-6 and 11, preferably themid-portion 104 includes a plurality of recesses 116 surrounding eachdispensing area 102. It is also preferred that the mid-portion 104 ofthe blister cover 100 have a top surface 114 adjacent to the dispensingareas 102. Most preferably the top surface 114 is formed on both sidesof the dispensing areas 102, as shown. This top surface 114 works withthe recesses 116 to prevent children from being able to bite individualcompartments 74 in the blister card 70. The compartments 74 cannot beaccessed by a child's teeth because the compartments 74 do not extendabove the top surface 114 sufficiently for the compartments 74 or eventhe dispensing areas 102 to be accessible for biting. Preferably, themid-portion 104 also includes at least a first communication surface 118that could be part of top surface 114. Most preferably there are twosuch surfaces as shown. These communication surfaces 118 can be used forcommunicating to the user of the product dispenser 10. While theparticular message communicated can be any, some examples includeidentifying the dosage text, providing day labels, providing informationin Braille (as shown) or providing other beneficial information.

Still referring to FIGS. 1-6 and 11, it is preferred that eachdispensing area 102 have a shape that matches the top of eachcompartment 74 in the blister card 70. This is illustrated best in FIG.6 where it can be seen that a top 82 of each compartment 74 is curved. Abottom surface 110 of each dispensing area 102 has a similar curvedshape. Of course, other matching shapes would work equally well withthis invention. However, such a curved shape is typical for blister cardcompartments and thus is preferred with this invention. The mid-portion104 of the blister card 70 also defines a cavity 108 that receives theblister card 70. The blister card 70 has a height H1 from the top 82 ofeach compartment to a bottom 84 of the second member 78. A height H2exists between a bottom surface 110 of each dispensing area 102 and thebottom 112 of the cavity 108. In the preferred embodiment, height H1 issubstantially equal to height H2. This minimizes the distance betweenthe bottom surface 110 of each dispensing area 102 and the top of eachcompartment 74. This in turn minimizes the motion required by the userwhen it is desired to dispense a product 76 from a compartment 74.

With reference now to FIGS. 1 and 8-13, a method for assembling theproduct dispenser 10 will now be described. First, the housing 20 ispositioned as shown in FIG. 8 (or FIG. 12). Next, the blister card 70 ispositioned onto the bottom member 21 of the housing 20. Next, the middlemember 28 is positioned over the blister card 70 such that each of theholes 30 in the middle member 28 receives a compartment 74 from theblister card 70 as shown in FIG. 10 (or FIG. 13). The first embodimentmiddle member 28A thus serves to align the blister card 70 with thebottom member 21. More particularly, the middle member 28A aligns thefrangible areas 80 on the second member 78 with the frangible arcas 24on the bottom member 21. Next, as shown in FIG. 11, the blister cover100 is positioned over top of both the middle member 28 of the housing20 as well as the blister card 70. Thus, it should be noted that in thepreferred embodiment, the cavity 108 in the blister cover 100 receivesboth the middle member 28 of the housing 20 as well as the blister card70.

With continuing reference to FIGS. 1 and 8-13, the blister cover 100 isthen attached to the housing 20. While any method of attachment chosenwith sound engineering judgment will work with this invention, twoalternate embodiments are preferred. The first embodiment for attachmentuses a two-step heat sealing process. In particular, it is preferredthat a bottom surface 107 of the flange portion 106 of the blister cover100 is heat sealed to a top surface 23 of the bottom member 21 of thehousing 20. The mid-portion 104 of the blister cover 100 is thenextended through the aperture 26 in the top member 22 of the housing 20such as is shown in FIG. 1. Then a top surface 109 of the flange portion106 of the blister cover 100 is heat sealed to a bottom surface 25 ofthe top member 28 of the housing 20. The second embodiment forattachment is similar but uses a two-step adhering process. It should benoted that any adhesive chosen with sound engineering judgment can beused for this adhering process. In particular, it is preferred that thebottom surface 107 of the flange portion 106 of the blister cover 100 isadhered to the top surface 23 of the bottom member 21 of the housing 20.The mid-portion 104 of the blister cover 100 is then extended throughthe aperture 26 in the top member 22 of the housing 20 such as is shownin FIG. 1. Then the top surface 109 of the flange portion 106 of theblister cover 100 is adhered to the bottom surface 25 of the top member28 of the housing 20. For either attachment embodiment, the blistercover 100 is attached to the housing 20 in position relative to theblister card 70 so that each dispensing area 102 is in alignment with acorresponding compartment 74.

Still referring to FIGS. 1 and 8-13, the first side member 32 is nextfolded over the blister cover 100 and then the second side member 34 isfolded over the first side member 32. Finally, the second side member 34may be secured to the bottom member 21 in any manner chosen with soundengineering judgment such as, for example, a decal or tape having oneside with an adhesive applied.

With reference now to FIGS. 1-6 and 11, it is generally very easy todispense a product 76 from the product dispenser 10 of this invention.First the securing means such as tape is removed and the first andsecond side members 32, 34 are folded out of the way. At this point, theproduct dispenser 10 is in the condition shown in FIG. 1. Next, the userwould press one of the dispensing areas 102 against the correspondingcompartment 74. This in turn forces the first product through thecorresponding frangible 80 area of the second member 78 and then throughthe corresponding frangible area 24 of the bottom member 21. This thenreleases the product 76 from the compartment 74 where it may be used bythe adult as required.

With reference now to FIGS. 14-17, another embodiment of a productdispenser 300 is shown. Much of the structure of the product dispenser300 is similar to that of the product dispenser 10 described above.However, there are important differences that will now be discussed.First, it should be noted that product dispenser 300 is intended for usewith a conventional blister card 302 having peelable areas 304, notfrangible areas, that are juxtaposed to the compartments 308 that areintended to hold products 312. Next, while the blister cover 316 has aplurality of dispensing areas 320, one for each compartment 308, notethat each dispensing area 320 is offset from a corresponding compartment308. By offset it is meant that the dispensing areas 320 are not aligneddirectly above each compartment 308, as with the product dispenser 10described above, but rather each dispensing area 320 is positioned tothe side of each compartment 308. While in the preferred embodiment eachdispensing area 320 is positioned to the outside of each compartment308, as shown, it should be understood that the dispensing areas couldbe placed on the inside of each compartment or between compartments andstill work well.

With continuing reference to FIGS. 14-17, a housing 324 is constructedsimilar to the housing 20 described above. However, each frangible area328 is positioned adjacent to the edge of each peelable area 304. In analternative embodiment, the frangible areas could instead be holes butthis makes it less child resistant. As a result, opening a frangiblearea 328 exposes the peelable area 304 to the user. The reason eachdispensing area 320 is positioned to the side of each compartment 308 isso that when the user exerts a force onto the dispensing area 320 theforce is communicated directly to the peelable area 304 of the blistercard 302 and then the frangible area 328 of the housing 324—not to thecompartment 308. Preferably, each dispensing area 320 has an applicationsurface 332 that is inset from a top surface 336. The applicationsurface 332 is the surface pressed by the user in order to remove aproduct 312 from a compartment 308. Most preferably, the applicationsurface 332 is positioned in direct communication with a middle member338 of the housing 324. As a result, the user only has to move theapplication surface 332 a minimal distance to open a peelable area 304.

With reference now to FIGS. 1 and 14, the product dispenser 300 isassembled substantially like the product dispenser 10 described above.One difference, shown, is that the housing 324 includes only a singleside member 340 that is folded over the blister cover 316. Of courseboth product dispensers 10, 300 can have any number of side memberschosen with sound engineering judgment.

With reference now to FIGS. 14-17, it is generally very easy to dispensea product 312 from the product dispenser 300. First the securing meansis removed and the side member 340 is folded out of the way. At thispoint, the product dispenser 300 is in the condition shown in FIG. 12.Next, the user would press the application surface 332 one of thedispensing areas 320 against the corresponding peelable area 304 of theblister card 302 and frangible area 328 of the housing 324. Thispressing force removes an edge of the peelable area 304 and an edge ofthe frangible area 328 away from the corresponding compartment 308. Itshould be noted that this pressing force does not impact the compartment308 and thus is not communicated to the product 312. Both the peelablearea 304 and frangible area 328 are then peeled back to create anopening 330 to the compartment 308. The product 312 can then easily beremoved from the compartment 308 by allowing it to drop or fall outthrough the opening 330 under the force of gravity. Thus while theproduct dispenser 300 can be used with any product 312, it is especiallyuseful with products that are formed of fragile materials, such ascertain medications, wafers, etc. that would be damaged if dispensedthrough the direct force used with the product dispenser 10 describedabove.

With reference now to FIG. 18, another product dispenser 400 is shown.This embodiment shows an optional product chamber 404. The productchamber 404 is intended for use in storing any portion of product thathas previously been removed from a compartment 408. In the embodimentshown, the product chamber 404 is attached to the housing 412.Optionally, the product chamber 404 could attach to or be made with theblister cover 416. The product chamber 404 may include a cavity 420 anda connection member 424 that is preferably pivotally connected to thehousing 412. To access the cavity 420 it is only necessary to pivot theproduct chamber 404 about the connection member 424.

The preferred embodiments have been described, hereinabove. It will beapparent to those skilled in the art that the above methods mayincorporate changes and modifications without departing from the generalscope of this invention. It is intended to include all suchmodifications and alterations in so far as they come within the scope ofthe appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

1. A product dispenser comprising: a housing; a blister card comprisinga first member defining a plurality of compartments for use in holding acorresponding plurality of products and a second member used to seal theplurality of products within the plurality of compartments, the secondmember having a plurality of peelable areas, one peelable areajuxtaposed to each compartment, for use in individually removing theplurality of products from the plurality of compartments; a blistercover for use in covering the plurality of compartments, the blistercover having a plurality of dispensing areas, one offset from eachcompartment, for use in individually transferring pressure to thepeelable area; and connecting means for operatively connecting theblister card and the blister cover to the housing so that eachdispensing area in the blister cover is in alignment with acorresponding compartment in the blister card.
 2. The product dispenserof claim 1 wherein the blister cover comprises: a mid-portion having theplurality of dispensing areas; and a flange portion extending from atleast a segment of the mid-portion, the flange portion for use inattaching the blister cover in position relative to the blister card. 3.The product dispenser of claim 2 wherein: the blister card has a heightH1 from the top of each compartment to the bottom of the second member,and the mid-portion of the blister cover defines a cavity that receivesthe blister card, a height H2 between a bottom surface of eachdispensing area and the bottom of the cavity being substantially equalto the height H1.
 4. The product dispenser of claim 2 wherein themid-portion of the blister cover has a top surface adjacent to theplurality of dispensing areas for use in preventing children from bitingindividual compartments in the blister card.
 5. The product dispenser ofclaim 1 wherein each dispensing area has an application surface that isinset from said top surface.
 6. The product dispenser of claim 2 whereinthe mid-portion comprises at least a first communication surface.
 7. Theproduct dispenser of claim 2 wherein the housing comprises: a top memberand a bottom member, the bottom member having a plurality of frangibleareas, each frangible area on the bottom member being juxtaposed to acorresponding peelable area on the second member.
 8. The productdispenser of claim 7 wherein the top member of the housing has anaperture that receives the mid-portion of the blister cover.
 9. Theproduct dispenser of claim 8 wherein the housing further comprises: amiddle member having a plurality of holes, each of the plurality ofholes in the middle member receiving a compartment from the blistercard.
 10. The product dispenser of claim 9 wherein the middle member ispivotally connected to the bottom member of the housing.
 11. The productdispenser of claim 9 wherein the middle member is attached to the bottommember of the housing.
 12. A method of dispensing a product comprisingthe steps of: providing a blister card having a first member defining atleast a first compartment for use in holding a first product and asecond member used to seal the first product within the firstcompartment, the second member having at least a first peelable areajuxtaposed to the first compartment for use in removing the firstproduct from the first compartment; providing a blister cover for use incovering the first compartment, the blister cover having at least afirst dispensing area positioned offset from the first compartment;pressing the first dispensing area against the first peelable area; andpeeling the first peelable area to create an opening to the compartmentin order to gain access to the product in the compartment.
 13. Themethod of claim 12 further comprising the steps of: providing a housingoperatively connected to the blister card and the blister cover whereinthe first dispensing area of the blister cover is offset from the firstcompartment of the blister card, the housing comprising a bottom memberhaving a first frangible area juxtaposed to the first peelable area ofthe second member of the blister card; pressing the first dispensingarea against the first frangible area; and peeling the first frangiblearea to create an opening to the compartment.